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Swedish, Taylor Garners SUNY's Highest Student Honors

Swedish and Taylor headshots.
April 25, 2023

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, April 25, 2023

A pair of Hudson Valley Community College student-athletes were named recipients of the State University of New York's Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, one of the highest student honors awarded by the SUNY system, which acknowledges students for outstanding academic and community service achievements.

Hannah Taylor (Softball) and Ellicia Swedish (Cross Country & Track and Field) were among four HVCC students to receive the tremendous recognition.

Taylor is an Architectural Technology student who has been a two-year starter and an integral piece of the recent success and growth of the Vikings softball program. In 2022, she helped lead the softball program to a 17-game win streak and a No. 3 seed in the Region 3 playoffs as the team's leadoff hitter and starting short stop. Taylor is a career .378 hitter at Hudson Valley and has accumulated 54 career hits in 45 games played. Taylor was recognized by the Department of Athletics as Softball's Academic Award winner, which recognizes academic success in the classroom and shows outstanding educational growth, improvement, commitment and integrity to achieving the best results in the classroom.

Around her local community, Taylor has been dedicated in giving back to the community that has supported her and her family as they grew up in Chatham, NY. She volunteers each year at the local food pantry in Ghent and has been an assistant coach for Chatham's highs school girls' basketball team. This season, she helped coordinate her team's participation in the College's annual Race Away Stigma 5K race held on campus, which raises awareness around the negative stigma surrounding mental health concerns.

Ellicia is a Business Administration major from Waterford and has been a two-sport student-athlete as a member of the women's cross country and track and field programs. She was named to the Mountain Valley Conference First Team following her sixth-place finish at the championship race in the Fall. Last season, Swedish was recognized by the Department of Athletics as the Academic Award winner for both the women's cross country and track and field programs.

Swedish is heavily involved in several clubs and organizations at the College, and serves as president of the Garden and Horticulture Club; business manager for the student-run newspaper, the Hudsonian, and has been an essential member of the Admission's student-run tour guides. Recently, Swedish was a volunteer for the Middle States re-accreditation team and a board member of the Faculty Student Association.